JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Authorities at South Africa's OR Tambo airport confiscated 342 kilos of lion bones which were set to transported to Malaysia, according to the South Africa's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also called the Hawks.

Three suspects, who were arrested with a consignment of 12 boxes of these bones, have appeared in court.

"Members of the Hawks and crime intelligence intercepted a suspicious consignment. The resultant search of the cargo led to recovery of twelve boxes which was later established as to be lion bones destined for Malaysia," Hawks spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu said.

The department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries spokesperson Albi Modise told Xinhua on Friday that the Green Scorpions stationed at the airport were the one's that made the stopped illegal smuggling of the bones.

The Green Scorpions are a network of officials set up by the Department of Environmental Affairs to tackle environmental and wildlife crimes in South Africa.

"The environmental management inspectors were alerted to the suspicious shipment on October,1 after it was discovered that there was no booking for the shipment of the lion bones," Modise said. He further said that the transportation document on the shipment had been mis-declared.

Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Barbara Creecy congratulated the Green Scorpions for the arrest.

"The success of the joint operation once again confirms that the sharing of information and collaboration between the different law enforcement entities is key to South Africa's fight against wildlife crime," Creecy said. Enditem

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